Wild Hamsters Thriving in Viennese Graveyards | Coexistence | BBC Earth

stop I'm Hannah stifel and I've spent the last 10 years filming and photographing animals in the wild but it's urban areas like this like myth like this that are now our fastest growing habitat on Earth so now I'm on a mission to photograph some of my favorite Urban species and find out why and how they're living alongside us thank you so today I'm looking for a tiny mammal that's hiding in one of Europe's Most Beautiful Capital Cities Vienna now it's home to nearly 2 million people but 50 of the city is Green Space now roe deer red squirrels and kestrels they've all made their home hair but what we're looking for is probably one of the fastest declining mammals in Europe but it's set up one of its strongholds here in Vienna in fact the population here is quite possibly one of the most important in the entire of Europe and what I'm looking for are wild hamsters foreign [Music] Vienna's biggest with over 3 million people buried here and over 500 Acres of Green Space now hamsters only grow up to around 30 centimeters long so I'm going to have to be pretty lucky to spot one today so it's fasting in the morning and I'll come bring early to the cemetery because this is one of the best times of day to see them as there's nobody around so they don't have to avoid people whilst foraging so I'm going to set up and hopefully I'll get my photograph my first time [Music] I'm gonna set my camera oh my goodness so big [Music] before long the hamsters start popping out of the ground everywhere foreign [Music] they're busy foraging through the cemetery looking for the best food to take back to their Burrows [Music] despite the hamsters here having adapted to the noises of the city they still keep out a watchful eye as predators are never too far away and they may need to quickly Escape back down into their Burrows hamsters tend to be out early in the morning and later in the evening so while they return to the safety of the underground I'm going to look around and see what other Wildlife is still awake just like the hamsters there's another rodent which is busy making its home around the famous Graves here showing just how safe this green Oasis has become for wildlife Beethoven's home and drain it's kind of like a nest and it's jumping from tree to tree just nibbling off the tops of the branches to build the Drey out of right above Beethoven [Music] thank you one thing about being here this early in the cemetery is that there's nobody around yet you get to see all the other Wildlife that lives here I mean we haven't been here that long and I've already seen 12 red squirrels roe deer woodpeckers so it really is a biodiversity hotspot I want to learn more about the hamsters living here so why meeting up with Thomas falek of the biodiversity at the cemeteries project to learn more so the hamsters I mean they're they're pretty spectacular aren't they absolutely gorgeous in fact how many do you have here in this Cemetery do we know or they're such lovely animals I really love them and we have about 70 to 100 individuals here so it's a quite nice population in the cemetery and it's quite unique and what do people in Vienna think of the hamsters being here most of them don't know that they're wild animals but they are and they're critical endangered and to educate these mess these people is quite important for us in our project because I was reading that they've become quite well adapted to agricultural land but what's happening to them in rural areas why are they doing better now in in cities just imagine what a farmer is doing to his Fields so there are a lot of machines there's a lot of work and the hamsters can't live in peace there and here the cemetery it's not so highly frequented by people and visitors and that's why they can live in peace what adaptations do they have for Life In The City the interesting thing here in the graveyards and the cemetery is that humps is adapted to eating candle wax so what's here candles and they go and try to steal the canvas of morning people and they can eat it because it's a source of fat and they can digest it we have a lot of sightings where hamsters trying to steal a candle from a grape and try to push it in the forest it's quite cute actually to get my photograph so I asked Thomas to show me their Burrows here so I can find them for myself later hamster Burrows are complex structure stretching underground they have their own areas including a storage room a bedroom and even a bathroom now that I know what I'm looking for I feel confident enough to try by myself in a different Cemetery the following day where I've heard they're even more common so I'm going to see if I can get even closer even though this cemetery is surrounded by skyscrapers and busy roads I've heard the hamsters are thriving so Thomas said that I need to look for those Burrows in the ground and I found some just here 's one here's one you see that that's a perfect hamster Borough and then if I come over here just on the corner there's one here as well see that that's perfect for hamsters so I'm definitely in the right as a hamster that's a hamster oh my oh my God there's a hamster there's a hamster there's a hamster standing up over there right I'm gonna try and get a little bit closer [Music] I'm gonna have to get my camera out try and get a photograph the hamsters are everywhere here but they're just so quick it's difficult to get a photo of one after a few near-misses I work out the main route that this little one is using to take food back to its burrow this one is trying to grab the fresh flowers before anyone else gets a look in [Music] it's collecting what looks like a type of hazelnut stuffing their cheeks full is a behavior seen both in wild and domestic hamsters can pack a surprising amount of food inside these cheek pouches which helps them get enough in their stores for winter hibernation I've managed to get a photograph and I am really pleased with it absolutely gorgeous this is look at him standing up there he is in all of his glory it's been incredible spending time with the wild hamsters here in Vienna and it shows us that despite urban areas generally having a negative effect on Wildlife that if certain species can adapt quick enough and well enough that cities can actually become almost islands and protection for them if they give them the chance [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: BBC Earth

Views: 1,787,405

Keywords: bbc documentary, bbc, bbcearth, bbc earth, vienna, vienna austria, Hamsters, Graveyards, hamsters in graveyard, Hamsters eating, Hamsters fat cheeks, Hamsters eating candles, Hannah Stitfall, Wildlife presenter, Wildlife photogrpaher, wildlife photography, wildlife photography in cities, Animals in urban areas, Animals in cities, Animals thriving in cities, Co-existence, cemeteries, Hamster burrows, Hamster running, Hamster running close up, small rodents, Cute hamsters

Id: 4F5iYBArTGw

Length: 9min 37sec (577 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 12 2023